Elaine Cook has always told stories. When she was young, people thought she was lying. And she was,,,,but she was good at it. Excuses to explain dubious behaviour became elaborate fantasies. School history essays took flight when her imagination leapt beyond the textbook. For an introvert, it gave her a tool to communicate and somewhere along the way she found her voice. Dreams of a career in journalism were in the air.
Many years later, Elaine and her husband Freeman found themselves living in Pugwash and Elaine had the opportunity to make that dream a reality. She teamed up with Maureen Woodlock, Hazel Felderhof and Alice Power in 1999 to produce The Thinkers’ Harvest, the brainchild of the Pugwash Area Development Association, to help promote tourism. Over the next five years Elaine honed her craft writing for this small publication, interviewing locals and capturing insights from visitors. She was perfect for this. Her natural curiosity and warmth encouraged people to open up about their lives. Her proudest moment brought a sense of validation when the Oxford Journal featured one of her pieces on its front page.
Looking for ways to develop her writing skills further, Elaine also participated in writing workshops led by Nova Scotia writers including Marjorie Simmons, Sheree Fitch and Sara Jewel. Networking with other creatives, exploring styles of writing and sharing her work made her see the benefits of going beyond the printed page. She has regularly been asked to read her short stories at public events through the years, receiving positive feedback and encouragement to take her writing further. In learning to enjoy the spotlight and taking pride in her achievements, Elaine’s confidence in her writing has grown.
“How do you appear humble when you are so proud of yourself?”
In our area, Elaine has a reputation for humorous writing. Not that all her stories are funny, but she has a knack for pace and rhythm that pulls her audience in and carries us along to the satisfying conclusion. The often hilarious conclusion. She is a keen observer of the human condition and we can all see ourselves in her characters’ predicaments. In another life, I think Elaine would have held her own in a professional writers’ room for network TV, writing for the likes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Modern Family.
Writing is a form of self care for Elaine. If she is feeling down, as many of us are in this time of world upheaval, writing gives her a place to escape. She usually writes a piece and stores it away in a large archival box with no real intent for it to go further.
But recently something has changed. Elaine is on a roll. Stories are pouring out faster than she can write them down. She’ll get an idea, ask herself ‘What if?’ and the flood gates open, carrying her away. Six hours later she might emerge, wondering where the time went.
Elaine knows her writing has improved and she is considering sharing it with the rest of the world in a more concrete way. Does this mean approaching a publisher? Maybe. Self-publishing? Possibly. I do know she is looking for feedback from other writers/editors. I do know she is looking at her writing differently and rereading stories with the idea of pulling a collection together. And I do know Elaine’s many fans would be absolutely thrilled for her.